Politics and Social Change Commons^™

Women In White Christian Nationalism, Danielle M. Urton

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper analyzes the appeals of White Christian Nationalism (WCN) to the “subordinate” demographic of white women, with specific attention to the use of rhetoric across the movement to attract women as allies, supporters, and promoters of the ideology.

Exploring The Factors That Influence Female Offending In The U.S. And Mexico, Dana Villasenor

CMC Senior Theses

Hollywood has painted a picture of the criminal woman as a sexy, sneaky, and often psychotic female fatale. This is because men run Hollywood. Much like movies, research on why women offend had historically focused on men as their stellar. However, towards the turn of the century and with the disproportionate rise in female incarceration, literature caught up to the fact that women and men do not experience the same socialization, standards, or reality and, therefore, have different reasons for and ways of offending. This research explores those reasons for women in the U.S. and Mexico and paints the picture …

Children And Young People’S Participation In Decision-Making Within Healthcare Organisations In New Zealand: An Integrative Review, Mandie Foster, Julie Blamires, Chris Moir, Virginia Jones, Jagamaya Shrestha-Ranjit, Brie Fenton, Annette Dickinson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is a paucity of literature on children and young people’s participation in decision-making within healthcare organisations in New Zealand. This integrative review examined child self-reported peer-reviewed manuscripts and published guidelines, policy, reviews, expert opinion and legislation to explore how New Zealand children and young people participate in discussions and decision-making processes within healthcare settings and what are barriers and benefits to such participation. Four child self-reported peer-reviewed manuscripts and twelve expert opinion documents were retrieved from four electronic databases including academic, government and institutional websites. Inductive content thematic analysis generated one theme (a discourse in children and young people’s …

Hablando Sobre Inmigración: How Members Of The House Of Representatives In 118th Congress Frame The Issue Of Immigration, Guadalupe Castañeda Martinez

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

Historically, Immigration has played a critical role in forming the nation’s identity, economic prosperity, and promoting cultural diversity. Considering that the issue of Immigration has been in the news and is considered by many to be important and in need of policy solutions, little progress has been made on passing comprehensive immigration reform since the 113 th Congress in 2013. How members of Congress talk about Immigration is important because framing can influence public opinion, shaping perceptions of the issue and affecting policy decisions. Members may use their platform to communicate how they think about policy issues. Research has been …

A Praxis Towards Social Change Based On Foucault's Conceptualization Of Experience As Relational, Lila Maureen Wakeman

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This project develops a praxis towards social change based on the works of Michel Foucault. It first establishes Foucault’s philosophical assumptions, methods, and political goal of countering “objectivizing” modern Western social forces. It then draws on sources from the three major phases of Foucault’s career to trace his development of a general conceptualization of experience as relational, or as non-exhaustively co-constituted by and through three indispensable kinds of social forces: knowledge, power, and ethics. It then evaluates implications of Foucauldian experience for efforts towards social change to conceptualize a general Foucauldian praxis towards social change. The praxis aims to affect …

Malleability Of Abortion Attitudes, Allison Leip

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Although abortion attitudes have been thoroughly investigated and population-level attitudes have not changed much over the past half-century, polls and research inquiring about abortion attitudes tend to ask isolated questions about if, and in what circumstances, abortion should be legal. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which abortion attitudes both varied and changed according to several contextual factors. A multiple-segment factorial vignette was conducted with 530 respondents in the state of Kentucky. Overall, most respondents held strong attitudes on access to abortion, both before the rationale was provided and regardless of the rationale provided. However, …

Power Dynamics And Oppression: Analyzing Structural Control In Suzanne Collins’S The Hunger Games, Hannah Micciolo

Capstone Showcase

The Hunger Games is a popular novel universe that describes a totalitarian dictatorship through the lens of the oppressed. Through the book, the viewer is given insight into how Panem operates the way it does even though the majority of its citizens are oppressed by the minority in a much more obvious manner. However, within modern society, the tactics used by the oppressors are much more ambiguous and distorted. This essay will explore the structures put in place by the Capitol in tandem with modern examples to mirror each other and increase awareness of the the tactics governments use both …

The Climate Crisis And The Class System: An Ethical Analysis, Alia Baig

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Climate change is a concerning subject that more and more people are beginning to care about. The climate crisis is continuing to affect populations across the globe and shows no signs of slowing. While everyone has been affected by climate change in some capacity, the climate crisis disproportionately affects low-income communities around the world and, specifically, within the United States. I plan to research the ethics of the relationship between climate change and the class system and the goal o f this project is to prove the claim that the class system is the reason for climate change's disproportionate effect …

The Pre-Migration Experience And Post-Migration Political Alignment Of Bhutanese Refugee Generations, Anisha Lingden

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Based on Sergio Aparicio's theory of "imported politics," this study examines the pre-migration experiences of Generation 1 and Generation 1.5 Bhutanese Refugees to analyze if a correlation exists between the pre-migration experiences and post-migration political alignment/attitudes. The theory was tested using ten interviewees, five of each generation, who were interviewed about their experiences in the origin and adopted country. This was followed by questions regarding government and politics used to evaluate their political attitudes. Results concluded that for all of Generation 1, the pre-migration experiences contributed in some aspects to how they viewed politics in the U.S. In contrast, the …

The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997. Part I (1980–1983), Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Zea E-Books Collection

Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill, compilers. The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997, with prefaces and author indices by Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill. 3 volumes: Part I (1980–1983)

The Midwest Feminist Papers was a creative, group-generated initiative that gave voice to the scholarly questions, research interests, and social concerns of a growing cohort of Midwestern feminist sociology graduate students and their feminist faculty mentors during the last quarter of the Twentieth Century. They were active members of Midwest Sociologists for Women in Society, a regional expression of the larger national Sociologists for Women …

When Ballots Are Blank: Write-In’S Serving Local Government And The Implications For A Healthy And Vibrant Democracy, Thomas J. Ruter

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Our democracy depends on having a supply of candidates running for elected office, but in some instances, no one wants to run. This phenomenological study asks what the effects on a healthy and vibrant democracy are if ballots are blank and the seat is filled through write-in or appointment. Rooted in democratic theory, this study explores small, rural city elections where write-ins won election. Understudied, local governments are responsible for decisions affecting the lives of millions of people each day. Workforce scarcity, the alienation of young Americans from politics, government bashing, nasty campaigns, threats of physical harm, and other barriers …

Net Zero And Settler Futurity, Jesse Goldstein

Sociology Publications

Net Zero ideology promises that current and ongoing emissions can be partially offset by ‘negative emissions’ strategies such as carbon capture and sequestration, allowing carbon intensive firms to narrate themselves as agents that are solving – not causing – the climate crisis. This represents a shift in liberal and corporate environmentalism away from both denial and delay, towards a new strategy acknowledging the need to end fossil fuel use while urgently deferring transformations to a future made possible by not-yet developed technological innovations. This paper argues that a through-line of settler futurity provides affective infrastructure potent enough to transect opposing …

Spirits Of Liberty: The Contradictions Of An Intoxicating Inheritance, Elise T. Hasseltine

Honors Theses

This extensive historical analysis traces the complex, multifaceted roles of alcohol across American history, from the colonial era and early national period through the temperance movement culminating in national Prohibition during the early twentieth century. It explores the cultural, social, economic, and moral dimensions circumscribing societal attitudes and regulatory policies toward alcohol over time. The thesis examines how alcohol served as a tool of conquest and oppression during the colonial era, facilitating the subjugation of Native populations and fueling the transatlantic slave trade. It delves into the complex dynamics of alcohol consumption and regulation in the early republic, highlighting the …

Democratically Engaged Assessment On Civic Learning For Bonner Scholars, Lesley Boadu, Meredith Bacon

Other Publications

This report will cover the multi-step process to identify and define the most critical civic learning outcomes for Bonner Scholars at the University of Richmond (UR). We will detail a democratically engaged assessment (DEA) involving diverse stakeholders to gather perspectives and insights. We do this by highlighting the work that has taken place and then making suggestions to improve the overall process. Some of this work includes using surveys to capture community experiences, involving students in creating definitions and implementing reflective journaling. We will also discuss the revision of reflection essay assignments to align with the identified outcomes and the …

Florida’S Most Recent Anti-Transgender Political Policies And Their Effects On Transgender Adults, Jaron A. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During May of 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple bills into law, which included House Bill 1521, Senate Bill 1580, and Senate Bill 254. Critics have regarded these bills to directly discriminate against transgender individuals and negatively impact their quality of life. The main research question this project seeks to answer is what impact these bills have, if any, on transgender individuals who live in the state of Florida. This includes experiences that negatively impact quality of life outcomes and mental health disparities. An online survey of a small sample of the population that self identifies as transgender, that …

Masculinity And Political Discourse: A Critical Analysis Of European Leaders, Taylor R. Haycock

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This project examines how European leaders of autocratic and democratic nations engage with masculinity discourses in their public speeches. Do authoritarian leaders use masculinity in a different way than democratic leaders? I answer this question by completing a critical discourse analysis of speeches from Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Boris Johnson, and Emmanuel Macron, the leaders of Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and France, respectively. The speeches were publicized from July 2019 to September 2022, when all four leaders were simultaneously in office. I found that a similar rhetorical strategy focusing on dominance and strength was used across regime types …

Towards A More Engaged Democracy: Using Statistical Methods To Detect Election Fraud In The 2022 Philippine National Elections, Juan Miguel Cardaño, Bryan Patrick Mande, Seth William Tionko, Aldrich Ellis C. Asuncion, Jeric C. Briones

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This paper aims to show how citizens can further participate in the elections, aside from just voting. Given the accusations of fraud, this study demonstrates how existing election fraud detection methods can be used in the 2022 Philippine National Elections (PNE) context. Specifically, histograms known as 2D vote turnout distributions were first utilized to model the frequency of the winner's percentage of votes based on the voter turnout in each electoral unit, with key parameters introduced to detect fraud. Vote turnout distributions were then simulated using parametric models involving the aforementioned fraud parameters, with the goal of replicating the actual …

The Contribution Of The White Working-Class Toward Their Own Political And Economic Disenfranchisement, Dana De Castro

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: why are the white working-class in America complicit in their own political and economic disenfranchisement? Moreover, this paper utilizes two time periods in American history, specifically, the Antebellum period and the Jim Crow era, and examines the white working-class’s behavioral pattern in these periods with the historical context in mind that took place in each of the eras. Through an analysis of the two studies, it is revealed that the white working-class has long been disenfranchised politically and economically. The white working-class of the past (specifically, the Antebellum period …

Managing Digital Assets On Death And Disability: An Examination Of The Determinants Of Digital Asset Planning Literacy, Adam Steen, Chris Graves, Steven D’Alessandro, Henry X. Shi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Despite its increasing importance, digital financial literacy (DFL) is yet to be adequately understood. This article reports on one aspect of DFL, namely, digital asset planning literacy (DAPL) which is an individual’s awareness of what happens to their digital assets on their death or incapacity. Our results from Australia and Singapore suggest that single, less-educated women are less likely to possess DAPL, and that the number of digital assets is negatively associated with DAPL, while having a Will is positively related to DAPL. With this study, we put forward that financial education should include consumer rights regarding digital financial assets. …

Which Side (Of The Balance Sheet) Are You On? Household Financial Resources And Participation In The 2020 Protests, Selina Miller, Stephen Roll, C.Taylor Brown, Laura Brugger, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The summer of 2020 was marked by widespread protests. Though research has often examined the predictors of protest participation, there exists little work examining the relationship between different types of wealth and protesting. Drawing on resource-based theories of protest participation and asset-based theories of civic engagement, we constructed regression models disentangling relationships between income, liquid assets, investment assets, homeownership, and protesting. Using a national survey administered during the protests, we find that liquid assets are negatively associated, homeownership is positively associated, and investment assets exhibit a non-linear association with protesting. These relationships hold when controlling for income, demographics, and ideology, …